Could listening to music make you fitter?
Interesting study. It was done on heart patients but the researchers concluded that exercise coupled with listening to your favorite music, or even just listening to music alone, increases exercise capacity even for those without a heart condition.
Could listening to music make you fitter? Enjoying your favourite tune 'strengthens the heart and improves stamina
To carry out the study, the researchers split a set of 74 people with heart disease into three groups. One group was sent to exercise classes for three weeks, another was sent to exercise classes but was also told to listen to music for half an hour every day, and the third group was asked to listen to music but did not attend exercise classes.
The participants were all studied again at the end of the three week period.
The researchers discovered that the heart disease patients who had exercised and listened to music displayed improvements in heart function and their exercise capacity had increased by an average of 39 per cent.
In contrast, the group that exercised but did not listen to music only saw their exercise capacity - the maximum amount of physical activity a person can sustain - increase by 29 per cent.
Surprisingly, the group that listened to music, but did not exercise, also saw their exercise capacity increase by 19 per cent.
There is not an ideal music for everybody, patients should choose music which increases positive emotions and makes them happy or relaxed.
Professor Ilic believes that, while the study only involved people with heart disease, the findings suggest that people without a heart condition would also benefit from listening to music which makes them happy and relaxed.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2408725/Could-listening-music-make-FITTER-Enjoying-favourite-tune-strengthens-heart-improves-stamina.html